Seven Years
by Daily News
Summary: One moment in the lives of Lily and James for every year at Hogwarts. These might not be the most important moments in their story, but every moment counts. Seven Years in seven moments. A series of one shots. L/J
1. Moment One

One moment in the lives of Lily and James for every year at Hogwarts. These might not be the most important moments in their story but every moment counts.

Seven years. Seven moments.

Moment One.

Enjoy. - E.

...

Lily seemed to have run out of luck.

She had been lucky when she found her way onto the platform, as Severus had arrived only shortly after her and he had been so sweet in showing her the way to the train. She had been lucky when her fears began to slowly melt away when she had met new and amazing friends on the train ride to Hogwarts. And she had been the luckiest girl in the world when she realized what that letter she received really meant when she caught a glimpse of the castle for the first time. Her breath had caught and her heart pounded. She had always meant to be right here.

She was lucky.

But that was all changing now. The room seemed to be quiet even when she saw all of the hands clapping when she made her way down the steps and towards the Gryffindor table. She saw the mouths of her fellow students moving as she sat down, all congratulating her as the newest member, until the next first year was sorted this way. She knew that time hadn't slowed down and that everything was as it should be, but something filled her with dread.

She scanned over the heads of the first years waiting for their names to be called. There were so many of them. Some seemed to try and climb over one another to see better and others were paralyzed with fear, but no one else meant anything. There! Severus was looking for her as well. Their eyes caught and she could see the dread on his face. She smiled reassuringly and he nodded. He faced back towards the ceremony and Lily tried to do the same but as each name was called all she could do was stare at the back of Severus' head.

The Fs and Js and Ps and Rs all went by at a snails pace until the Ss were reached.

Lily held her breath and watched as Severus Snape, her best friend, sat on the stool and had is fate decided by a talking hat. She felt her palms begin to sweat.

Slytherin.

Lily hadn't realized that she had been holding her breath until the name was called and her chest began to ache simultaneously.

No.

The beginning and end of her luck made its way to the table on the other end of the room.

Their eyes met. They had both known this was going to happen but it did not make it hurt any less.

She reorganized herself and took a sip of her pumpkin juice. She only had a moment to console herself when the boy sitting across from her opened his mouth.

"Thank god we didn't get him. That would have been disastrous!"

His friends roared with laughter, patting themselves on the back.

Lily took note of the black mess of hair and the glasses. The pit of fire in her stomach was pushing her to lunge across the table and deck him, but something stopped her. Just by looking at him she realized he wasn't worth it, he was just a stupid boy and always would be.

Her luck was gone.


	2. Moment Two

Hope you enjoy.- E.

...

Year Two

Moment Two

...

They were so clever. They were the cleverest of the clever. They had to be the most clever people in the history of the known universe because James Potter and his roaring gang of miscreant friends were going to show Frank Crenshaw just how clever he wasn't.

Frank was a third year Ravenclaw with a serious case of overconfidence. To be brief about Frank's indiscretion, he had said a lot of things over the years in regards to the intellectual inefficiencies of the other houses. This often was something that was easily brushed off, but as of recent he had been blabbing quite loudly about the upcoming Ravenclaw/Gryffindor quidditch match and that had caught the ears of most Gryffindors. Most had grit their teeth and let it go, rivalry was part of the fun after all, but it was when Frank used his "superior wit" to change the water in the Gryffindor locker rooms to blue and silver dye that was magically un-washable for two weeks, that Frank was due his.

Moony, oddly enough, had been the mastermind behind the entire plot. Padfoot and Prongs were the runners and Wormtail was on watch duty. They had borrowed some supplies from the potion's room and went to work. Remus figured that if Frank wanted to play with toiletries, why not return the favor?

The disgusting green goop that they had hidden in a secret passageway was ready. They had had to let it ferment for a week before it was at perfect ripeness. All they had to do now was put just a pinch in Frank's toothpaste and it would almost completely seal his mouth closed with a thick paste - shut him up for once. It was harmless, for the most part, but it would have just enough kick to satisfy the quiddtich team and their fans.

They had made way too much of the potion however and weren't really sure how to get rid of what wasn't going to be used. They figured that if they could just get it out of the castle and into the Forbidden Forest that could dump it and run. Getting it out was going to be difficult though. They would have to get it to a different passage across the hall and down a flight of stairs without anyone seeing.

So with a small vial of the concoction in Padfoot's pocket and Wormtail on look out down the hall, they began the journey. It was slow going as the Gumb Stuck potion was heavy in the cauldron and needed the strength of all three boys to lift it and move it at all.

They had made it down the hall. They dropped the cauldron in order to take a breath. James looked around the corner and saw Peter nod at a group of passing fourth years while leaning in the most awkward position on the wall behind him. A dopey smile was stretched ear to ear. Once they receded around the corner however Peter got his head back in the game. He whistled a quick tune - the all clear - and off they went. They lifted the pot and shuffled to the stairs. They were half way down the flight when they heard voices coming their way. Padfoot pushed downward and Prongs and Moony pushed to go back up the stairs. It was a quick moment of miscommunication but it was even more quickly turning into a disaster. The heavy cauldron heaved back and forth between their hands and the boys' feet slipped under the weight, and with nothing left to do but be crushed by the heavy object filled with paste, they let go and jumped out o the way.

The cauldron hit the floor with a crash and the goo gushed out as if a tidal wave. It exploded over the side of the stairway and down, down, down until they heard it hit the staircase two below them with a splash followed instantly by a high pitched scream.

The boys flung themselves over the edge of the stair case to see who they had just hit. It was almost hard to tell at first but it was soon unmistakable as the green of the Gumb Stuck clashed harshly with the bright red hair of one Lily Evans. She had been hit pretty severely with a heap of the stuff and was unable to move from were she stood. It was on her head, her clothes, and her feet. Her books were destroyed and her ink had soaked through her bag as it broke when she dropped it on the ground.

Lily Evans spent the next three hours in the infirmary getting de-gunked. She had to cut her hair in an odd way in the places where green globs refused to come out, and she had to use a special cream on patches of her skin that had a bad reaction to the potion.

James Potter never made Gumb Stuck potion again.

Two weeks later, all of the castle was heading towards the pitch. Students cheered and chanted for their teams, waving flags and enjoying the festive atmosphere. Nothing, however, quite got the crowd more riled up than seeing Frank Crenshaw in the red and gold dress that had been laid out for him on his four poster while the rest of his clothes waved in the afternoon air around the pitch.


	3. Moment Three

I know these are short (and it seems like they are getting shorter) but I still hope that everybody enjoys. And I'd love any comments or opinions anyone has, they make it more fun to write these silly little drabbles.

Enjoy. - E.

...

Year Three

Moment Three

...

Longbottom had sent their cauldron and its contents screaming across the potion's classroom. Frank was normally a very good potions partner, but in his competitive dive to win a silly vial of Focus that Professor Slughorn had promised to the first team that finished their potion correctly, he had forgotten to stir counterclockwise. After the third turn the potion became a nasty brown and Frank tried to fix it by mixing faster. The result was an explosion that left a foul smelling odor and smog in the air, and Lily, who had received one the strongest hits and had it only slightly less well off than Frank himself, was sneezing uncontrollably.

The disgusting smell and some burnt particles had encased Lily as she sat dumbstruck in her chair for a moment after the incident happened. She was unable to avoid the on-slot on her sensitive sinuses as they were themselves bombarded with the foreign enemy of the lingering potion. She felt her body continuously lurch forward as she tried to cover her mouth and escape out the door with the other students. The air was so thick that it followed them out into the corridor.

There in the open air she believed that it would stop, that she would be able to take a breath, but she was wrong. It was as if she had been hexed and continued to sneeze with wild abandon. No one was paying attention, particularly as they tried to brush the foul smoke out of their robes, but that didn't stop the red from flushing Lily's cheeks. It was partly from oxygen deprivation but mostly from embarrassment. Lily didn't like bringing attention to herself, especially when it was her partner who had disbanded the classroom out into the hall.

Then, like a small flag of surrender, a white handkerchief was waving in front of her face. She could only just make out the grinning face of James Potter between sneezes. His face was covered in black smudges on his right side as he had been sitting to the table beside them, but he didn't seem to be effected the same way that Lily was, it actually looked like he was enjoying himself. What about this was so amusing Lily would never be able to understand but she grabbed at the handkerchief presented to her and covered her mouth and turned away. Not long after Lily's sneezes stopped. Slughorn had cleared out the classroom but had decided to let them go early as the smell seemed to continue to linger on.

James never asked for the handkerchief back and Lily ended up losing it in the pile of things she stored in her trunk until one day fifth year. She had found it among a pile of socks and shoved it into her pocket. She didn't recall where she had gotten it from but she found herself keeping it always on her person and not feeling quite right without it.


	4. Moment Four

Hello,

So I made a bit of a mistake and had to take down my original Moment Four and make that Moment Five as I had the boys being Animagi before their Fifth year (oopsy). So I have just switched the order a bit. Sorry about that!

Hope you enjoy the new Fourth Year Moment!

-E.

...

Seven Years. Seven Moments.

...

Year Four

Moment Four

...

Lily Evans could not have been more annoyed at that idiot James Potter. She had seen him every night this week in the common room _not studying_ and now all she could hear was Peter yelling about how impressed he was at James' test score. Apparently he had gotten one of the highest grades that McGonagall had ever given to a fourth year for a test that entailed turning a broom into a flamingo. A Flamingo! Lily had been practicing for weeks and she could only get it to turn into a broom with a beak and some odd feathers sticking out here and there.

"And did you see the way that it flew about?"

If Peter didn't shut up soon Lily might lose her mind. She closed her eyes tight and tried to focus her frustration elsewhere.

"It even landed right on McGonagall's desk!"

Lily didn't mind the quiet little mouse that was Peter Pettigrew, but she was sure she was going to throw some kind of boil hex at him any moment now.

"You should have gotten an even better grade James!"

There it was, Lily was about to turn around and say something when someone beat her to the punch.

"Peter, please just shut it."

Lily opened her eyes and was as surprised to see who it was as Peter obviously was as his mouth was slack jawed and his eyes wide. James Potter himself had put a stop the the endless droning of Peter to the rest of the common room.

"B - But James!"

"It was just a test, so leave it."

Lily could see Peter's shoulders slump and his head drop as he sat back onto the couch and resigned to keep quiet as he was told. She scanned the area in which they were sitting and saw that Remus and Sirius, who were also sitting in the armchairs, visibly relaxed at the quelling of Peter's voice. She then turned back to James and saw that he had something splayed out on the coffee table in front of him. She looked harder and saw that he was muttering something and moving his wand about in a familiar pattern.

He was studying. He was studying for charms. She had never seen him study for anything before in her life. He was the kind of boy that just seemed to pass, but here he was in front of everyone looking quite puzzled.

Lily couldn't help herself, she had to know what was the spell that had stumped James Potter.

She pushed up off of her chair and, not trying to be subtle at all, she looked over his shoulder.

"Can we help you, Evans?" It was Sirius who had looked up from _Quidditch Quarterly_ to stare at her with mild boredom.

James turned his head so quickly that he almost hit hers, but she didn't flinch and continued to stare at the books in front of him.

"You're studying."

It hadn't been a question so James wasn't quite sure how to answer.

"Er — Yes."

"You are actually studying."

"Hit it on the head again, Evans."

"But — but you never study!"

There was a silence as Remus, Sirius and Peter all stared back and forth between Lily and James. Apparently, the pause was too long for Sirius as he rolled his eyes and sighed, going back to his magazine.

James thought for a moment and tried to come up with an answer.

"Well, er, you see, most things come pretty easy for me."

She actually turned to look at him now and there was a distinct look of disgust there.

"Well I mean, it isn't my fault that certain things click for me…" he tired to sooth the beast that was baring her teeth.

They fought enough as it was and he didn't really feel like getting into it right now when he had things to do. Lily was an amazing witch, and James both admired and (slightly) feared her. They often bumped heads on daily matters, but she also made his heart race and he didn't feel like getting into an argument over something that wasn't his fault in the least.

"Not everything comes easy though, I still have to study."

For some reason that soothed Lily. James might be insufferable and arrogant and a complete git to her friends, but she did have a small spot where she was just a pinch jealous of him. And this little bit of jealousy was happy that he had to work hard on a — Lily stretched her neck and saw what it was — a immobulous charm. But that same little bit of her wanted to help him, if just to show him that _she_ could do it without practicing.

"Flick your wand left, not right, at the end there, and that should do it."

James looked flabbergasted at her. He turned around and muttered the charm, fixing his wand motion and the spinning top that had been hovering this whole time on the table stopped an stood up straight. James stared blankly at it.

"Uh, thanks Evans."

All Lily did was smile and turn to leave. It was an argument that James thought he had quelled, one that he didn't know had still been going on, but she still won. Once, without yelling or snide remarks, she had just showed him that she was just as good as he was.

To James however, this was a sign of better things to come. His heart gave a skip.

He had no idea however, that he had just lost, and that things, in fact, would not be getting easier.


	5. Moment Five

So I made a bit of a mistake, and like I explain in the last chapter (the new chapter four) that I had to switch these two chapters to make sure that I have all my facts straight!

Hope you enjoy! - E.

...

Seven Years. Seven Moments.

...

Year Five

Moment Five

...

It had been a long night out at the shrieking shack and James Potter was completely exhausted. The others had made their way back up to the common room (at least he hoped) some time ago. When Moony was feeling better and with the dawn about to break they usually snuck back into the castle through one of the passageways at the base of the castle, this morning however did not go according to plan. The Herbology teacher, Professor Sprout, had been out patrolling the grounds for some kind of rare weed that only took root on a new moon and blossomed on a full moon. James knew this due to the fact that he had heard her say so in class — he had also heard her say something about harvesting them this month — but until that moment the memory had slipped his mind.

With a Professor Sprout blocking their only way back to the castle, there seemed only a few options with which the four boys could foresee: One, they all get their necks rung and detention (not so bad considering it was a common occurrence for them), two, they waited her out and try to make it back a little later when there would be more people out and about the castle, or three, James, the fastest of them all when they were…er, feeling particularly animal, would distract her while the rest made a break for it. Without much discussion the plan was formed between them and James went to work.

Peter disarmed the Whomping Willow and James sprang into action the moment that Sprout's back was turned. Professor Sprout had just picked a handful of the precious plant when she heard a loud thundering noise from behind her. She turned to see a large, though not fully matured, stag running straight at her. She squealed in terror and went to reach for her wand but before her hand even made it to her robes the beast slowed to a stop right in front of her. Sprout stared at the stag and it returned her stare. They seem to stay that way for only a moment when the deer reached out its mouth and snatched the weeds from her hand. The next moment the beautiful animal was bounding away across the grounds. With a yell, Sprout went chasing after him, sparks flying from her wand, only just missing the creature every time.

It had taken James only a few moments to clear the way for his friends, but it took another twenty minutes of running, dodging and jumping to shake Professor Sprout without completely leaving her in the dust and unaware of where James had laid her weeds. Professor Sprout, in the teacher's lounge later that day would describe the encounter with confusion, "Finally, when I was losing my stamina, the stag just looked at me from a distance away, and laid the plant at its feet. It stared at me for a moment and then bounded off. The weeds were not even dented! It was as if the beast was playing with me! Curious!"

When James had been able to find a safe place to return to two legs, he found that they were so wobbly that he could barely stand. Not only had he been up all night playing with a particularly ferocious puppy, but now the weight of that last bit of over exertion had crumpled what was left of his energy reserves. He felt as if he was walking through sludge on his way to the castle and the world around him was very very fuzzy. He went straight to the front entrance, too tired to care if anyone saw him, but he hadn't needed to worry. It appeared to be late enough in the morning now for students to be making their way into the Great Hall for breakfast.

James gave a great sigh, and instead of climbing the endless stairs back up to the common room for what would probably be a less than satisfactory half hour of sleep, he turned and headed into the Great Hall as well. He slumped down at the long table and felt a slight bit of pain as his head hit the wood with a _thud_. He wasn't sure how long he had stayed like that, coming in and out of sleep, but he eventually came to. He picked up his head and saw that the light coming from the ceiling sky had become even brighter, and more and more students had filled in before classes started.

There was a clapping of shoes on stone behind him before they stopped abruptly.

"What happened to you, Potter?"

James turned his head to look at the red-headed menace and love of his life, Lily Evans.

"Hello beautiful, good morning to you too."

"Don't call me that, Potter. What happened, new record for number of school rules broken in one night?"

James was so tired that it took him a minute to find a response, but in the end he could only form a tired smile and look up at her, deep dark circles under his eyes.

"Probably."

Lily was a little shocked that there hadn't been any back and forth. James Potter always pushed her buttons by pretending to be in love with her half the time and endlessly torment her the other half, and this response didn't fit his M.O. This year had been torturous in terms of Potter's antics. He had sent her singing love notes, dedicated Quidditch matches to her and even tried repeatedly to ask her out. But after these odd flights of fancy left him they would go back to fighting like bulls in the corridors between classes. They never got along or ever saw eye to eye. So his reaction was, well, surprising, and her face showed it.

She watched as he smiled at her again once more before putting his head back onto the table with a bit more force than necessary. She wasn't sure what to make of him this morning, but she did notice how absolutely exhausted he looked and a small streak of concern coursed through her. She stomped it out immediately. James Potter was none of her concern and she continued down the table to her friends and a delicious stack of pancakes.

Ten minutes later James heard another group of footsteps behind him and then the weight of the bench shifting as people sat around him. He looked up and saw Remus next to him. Lupin lifted up James' bag that included all of his books and homework and smiled guiltily. Sirius on the other side poured James a goblet of pumpkin juice and slapped some eggs and toast on a plate for him. James lifted his bone-tired body off of the table and took his things, placing them on the floor at his feet.

He was grabbing the plate of food out of Sirius' hand when Sirius spoke.

"Eat up Prongs, we have a Quidditch game today."

Another _thud_ was heard as James' head hit the table hard once more.


	6. Moment Six

Enjoy the sixth year moment :)

E.

...

Seven Years. Seven Moments.

...

Year Six

Moment Six

...

It was happening again and Lily Evans had no idea why. Had she done something to deserve this? It seemed like her entire life at Hogwarts had somehow revolved around James Potter whether she wanted it to or not — the _or not_ was usually the case. Now however, the world that she had gotten used to seemed to be over.

James Potter was no longer hounding her or proclaiming his love for her. He wasn't throwing stink bombs at her and her friends. His friends weren't trying to blow up something, and none of them were walking through the halls like they owned them as they once did. It was worse. Now there was absolutely nothing.

Nothing. James wasn't bothering her, teasing her, or asking her out. In fact, the only contact they made this year was when he dropped his quill under her chair in Charms and he politely asked for it back. He had barely made eye contact.

This should have made Lily happy. It should have given her the freedom to enjoy her life at school without constant irritation, but somehow it didn't. It just didn't feel right.

As the thoughts ran through her mind, Lily raised her head to see the boy in question coming down the hallway. She braced herself — maybe this time would be the time that he would say something and their normal ritual of the back-and-forth would begin again. But the boy with dark messy hair and glasses, who was holding his books in one hand casually and holding out the other for Sirius to practice some kind of card trick, didn't seem to be paying attention to her at all. He laughed as one of the cards exploded before Sirius could expel it into James' hand and it burnt his own fingers instead. His smile lit up his entire face.

Lily couldn't keep her eyes off of him. She watched him and waited as they grew closer and closer while heading in opposite directions. She bit the side of her tongue in anticipation for _something_ to happen.

And then it did. For a quick moment his eyes lifted and met hers. The connection sent shock waves down her spine. She straightened her back and almost smiled as she waited the first strike. But as quickly as he had looked at her he looked away. And the line that was binding them snapped so sharply that Lily felt a pulling in her stomach and an ache in her chest.

She stopped and watched him pass. She turned her body to follow him as he moved by and she couldn't understand what was happening. Around her others in the hall who were used to the epic Lily and James fights, rows, and grand gestures watched as well, still waiting, as Lily was, for something to happen. When nothing did they all shrugged their shoulders and turned back again to whatever they were doing, but Lily couldn't find the strength in her to do the same. This wasn't a show for anyone else, it was their game, and somehow the game had ended without her knowing.

Prickling pierced Lily's eyes and she turned quickly and headed for a quiet little corridor. She missed lunch that day and would find out that she would miss a few more before the end of term.

...


End file.
